Legacy (Working Title)
by matteo273
Summary: A suspenseful journey that will intrigue you. A young girl running for her life. Who is she? Why is she running? And from who? I hope you enjoy. Please give me feedback/criticism :)
1. Chapter 1

Legacy

The rain from the dark sky continued to fall heavily through the forest canopy. Branches overhead bustled as the strong winds blew through the trees. She ran as fast as she could, her boots splashing on the wet ground. Every so often she could hear a howl in the distance and she knew her dogged pursuit was gaining on her position. Flashes of light lit up the forest floor, followed by thunder so loud it left her ears ringing. Out of breath with her stomach knotting up, she pressed on out of pure adrenaline. One misstep could mean certain death she knew. She leaped over a fallen tree that was still smoking from being struck by lightning. The distant howls were now mixed with grunts as her pursuers got closer. She didn't know if they, or the storm would claim her life first but she did know she was out of time and energy.

"Oghma help me"

She galvanized herself and continued to run, using the next flash of lightning to alter her course slightly in the best direction she could determine would lead her out of the forest. Her heart fluttered when at last the ground sloped downwards and she could see a road up ahead. When she finally reached the road she paused for a moment to look around, a quick survey of the sky and the mountains behind her helped her get her bearings. The road east looked desolate, she turned west and could barely make out a slight glimmer of light in the torrential rain. With no options left she made her way down the road west towards the light as fast as she could.

As she got closer, she could tell it was a campfire and a large one at that. She looked back and saw the first worg rider break out the forest line onto the road. She thought to scream for help, but she couldn't be sure who was at the campfire. These were dangerous lands in dangerous times. Knowing the intent of those behind her however, she took the only chance she saw.

"Help! Please!"

The merchant caravan, for that's what it was by the fire, had stopped along the side of the road and had taken meager shelter under a rocky overhang. Two bow wielding men atop a wagon shouted as they heard the screams.

"To Arms!"

At once two more men with long swords and wooden shields, and a group of six dwarves hopped to their feet and grabbed their weapons. By the time she reached the campsite she was met with wide eyed stares, not aimed at her but behind her. One red bearded muscled dwarf wielding a very large shield and hammer, but who hadn't had time to equip his armor barked an order.

"Form ranks!"

The disciplined dwarves moved out onto the road in front of the wagons and immediately formed into a wedge. The two swordsmen stood directly behind them. The horses attached to the wagon reared and neighed from the commotion and the storm overhead.

She reached the camp and ran around the dwarven front line, she made her way to the red bearded dwarf and practically collapsed at his feet, and would have had he not been there to stop her descent. He easily hoisted her to her feet.

"Get ye gone lass, run and hide!"

With no strength to argue she complied and ran towards the other side of the road and started down a steep hill away from the camp. As soon as she left the red bearded dwarf made his way to his comrades, both archers had begun to let fly and he could see at least two score of orcs closing in on them, two atop worgs the closest and larger figures in the rear he couldn't make out in the downpour. One of the archers suddenly let out a scream and hopped from the wagon and started running the opposite way further down the road to the west.

"No caravan guard pay is worth my life!"

The merchant, an overweight middle aged man, who was cowering inside the main wagon heard his hired guard and lost his resolve. He came running out the wagon and made his way after the fleeing guard as quickly as he could. A few moments later he nearly ran into the guard who had stopped dead in his tracks. When he looked up he understood why. Two Ogres thrice the size of a man came in at them, the first wielding a massive club which it swung at the archer and connected so solidly that his body went flying into the rocky overhang. A bloody splatter against that wall and the fleeing guardsman's body falling limp to the floor was the last thing the merchant, who was too petrified to even scream, saw. The second ogre, wielding a boulder that weighed hundreds of pounds as if it were a pebble, stomped the merchant into the ground and threw the boulder at the caravan with tremendous force.

"Coward" the red bearded dwarf muttered, as one of the archers went running.

When he reached his place at the tip of the wedge formation he could see just how formidable a force was heading towards them. The worg riders came charging. In unison the dwarves released a volley of hammers or dwarven missiles as they are known. One worg rider was caught clean in the chest and went flying back off its mount, where it lay very still. The other worg was hit and stunned but hardly out the fight. The first rider less worg jumped into the dwarven wedge closely followed by the second. It managed to pounce atop a dwarf at the end of the wedge and bite down hard on his arm, dagger like teeth piercing armor and flesh. The dwarf let out a painful grunt as the dwarf beside him quickly ran through the worg with his sword and helped his injured comrade to his feet. The other worg was met face-first with a combined shield bash that left it stunned long enough for the red bearded dwarf to step forward and lay the beast low with an over hand chop of his hammer that cracked its skull.

The boulder came crashing in with enough force to crush one of the caravan swordsman and bounce into the red bearded dwarf's shoulder and head from behind, sending him spinning violently to the wet ground. The sound of orc arrows zipping in interrupted the sound of the ceaseless rain. These dwarves were well trained, seasoned warriors to the last and amidst the chaos two managed to meet the orc charge head on, two broke apart to meet the incoming ogres from the rear, and the injured dwarf who had been bitten managed to drag the unconscious red bearded dwarf to the side of the road and then charged headlong to join his allies fighting the ogres.

Many minutes had passed, the downpour continued even though the lightning had lessened a bit. She sat weeping, hidden in some brush not that far from the road. She tried to cover her ears and block out the sounds of the battle that was still on. But the screams... The horrible blood-curdling screams. The guilt was overwhelming, she in her desperation had brought this doom down upon innocents. It was too much for her to bear. She felt helpless, and terrible. In her anguish and without thinking she let out a growl and stood to her feet. Forcing one foot in front of the other, she made her way back towards the fighting. Her pace quickened and her heart raced as she made her way closer to the battle. She wasn't sure what she could do but she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she didn't try. Behind a large tree to the side of the road, she found the courage to peek around. What she saw made her heart drop to her stomach and she had to cover her own mouth tightly to not let a scream of horror out. Bodies lay mutilated and missing limbs on the ground. And even in the downpour, there was copious amounts of blood.

The only remaining members of the caravan were two horribly battered dwarves fighting off orcs back to back. They sang a song to Moradin, spitting blood with every word as they made their final stand. Facing ancient enemies and fighting to their last breath was a worthy death for any dwarf they thought to themselves. They fought brilliantly, parrying and counter attacking, complimenting each others every move.

She looked on in awe of the dwarves prowess and bravery, many bodies of orcs and two ogres lay on the ground. When a faint cough snapped her back to attention. She tentatively moved some brush aside to see where the noise had come from. She saw the red bearded dwarf who had helped her, lying very still and from what she could tell, seriously injured. She crouched over to him and tried to pull him farther into the brush and away from the road. The ground was wet and the mud gave way under her boots and she had no traction to pull him. She noticed that the dwarf had managed to keep his shield which was more than half his height in his grasp. Acting quickly she made her way around the dwarf onto the road, praying she would go unnoticed. She managed to get her feet under her and use all of her strength to roll the dwarf face down onto his own shield. She then started to push the shield to the downward slope off the road. She looked back one last time to see the dwarves finally get overwhelmed by the orcs. With one last heave she pushed the dwarf and fell unintentionally atop him as the wet muddy ground gave way and they went sliding down the steep hillside together. They were moving very fast and she couldn't slow them. She tried her best to cover his head as they went racing down the mudslide. The last thing she heard in the distance was a deep throaty voice yell

"Find the girl!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

She awoke in a dell to the sounds of birds singing, the sun shining brightly in her face. She gingerly lifted her head to look down at her body. She was covered in dried mud and her torn, soaked clothes were all but ruined. She propped herself up to her elbows and struggled to find her bearings. The serenity of the area around her betrayed the surreal events from the night before. As she replayed the terrible night over in her mind, she realized that she must have slid several hundred yards down the mountainous hillside. She sat up and glanced to her left and saw a tower shield.

"The dwarf!" she gasped.

She carefully stood up, seeing she had sustained several minor cuts and bruises. She favored one leg and painfully realized that she had twisted an ankle when she tried to take a step. Limping around picking up some contents of her traveling pack that had spilled, she salvaged what she could, retrieved the heavy shield and strapped it to her back. She knelt down, pulling out her holy symbol and offered a prayer to Oghma asking for clarity to persevere and for healing strength that she feared she would need soon.

The dwarf was nowhere in sight, she could tell that it was midday because the sun was at it's zenith in the sky. She looked around then started upward the way she had fallen. About seventy painful yards up the hillside she noticed a pale figure that looked stuck in some brush. She made her way eager to help and slipped, her ankle twisting painfully. The ground was very saturated and made the climb especially in her condition, very difficult.

Using trees, rocks, vines, anything sturdy she could to get a handhold or foothold on, she eventually made her way to the dwarf. The sight was most disheartening. He was filthy and covered in mud like her. His skin was pale and his chest moved with very shallow breaths. One of his shoulders seemed out of place and his arm hung awkwardly. The back of his head was caked in blood. His way down the path had been much less fortunate too, she could see two thick branches that had pierced the side of his abdomen. The red bearded dwarf was teetering on life and death she knew.

Wasting no time she removed the shield and opened her pack pulling out linen bandages. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Steadying herself she placed her hands on the dwarfs abdomen and pulled the thick branches out. The dwarf let out a moan of pain that seemed very far away. The blood began to flow anew from the now open wounds. With words of healing on her lips she placed her hands over the garish punctures. Her hands began to glow in a soft light and she could feel the warmth emanating as the healing energy flowed into the dwarf's body.

Some color returned to the dwarf's face and the punctures had nearly closed. She applied a bandage to the area. She wanted to attend to his injuries further as she had some healing power left but she knew that they were in danger out in the wilderness. Unsure of her location or if she was still being chased but understanding they had to find some kind of shelter, she pulled out a small pocket knife from her dirty boot and began cutting some thick vines from the root of a tree. She placed the heavy shield down and tied some of the sturdy vines to one end of it. She came over to the dwarf and through much effort managed to get his back onto his tower shield. Pulling the makeshift stretcher, she started downward towards the valley she awoke in.

Her hair was matted down against her head in dried mud. She scratched at the constant itching of her scalp, dried flakes falling from her head. The muscled dwarf was very heavy, and the pace was slow. The sweat she began to work up mixed with the dried mud on her body. Lines of sweat streaked down from her brow bringing dirt and grime down along with it.

"I'll never take a bath for granted". She quietly promised herself.

The ground was still very damp and it made it easier, if not possible, for her to pull the dwarf along. She had walked for an hour through a forested area. She had not eaten and the toll of pulling the heavy dwarf was making the pain in her badly twisted ankle much worse. She didn't dare use any of her healing capability on herself for fear that the dwarf might need all she could do and more. The only positives were that she had encountered no signs of danger thus far and because of the storm there were many large puddles where she filled her water skin.

In the distance she heard the sound of water. When it became visible to her that there was a stream up ahead, she left the dwarf by a tree and went on alone to inspect the area. The stream banks were lined with trees and thick green grass. The water looked clear and fresh and went on as far as she could see in both directions but was only about ten feet wide. She desperately wanted to dive in and wash the filth off her body but there were more pressing matters.

By the time she managed to drag the dwarf to the stream bank, the sun had begun its descent in the sky. In a small clearing across the stream, there were some large boulders. Deciding it would be best to make camp there she gingerly rolled the dwarf off of his shield and strapped it to her back. She made her way down into the cool water, which was only about as deep as her waist. Carefully, she pulled the dwarf into the water and helped his head stay above while she made her way across the ten foot expanse with him.

Getting him and herself out of the water proved more difficult. She finally managed to pull the unconscious dwarf into the clearing. She sat down exhausted, trying to catch her breath. With light fast waning, she scrambled around looking for resources, hoping to start a fire.

Even that proved difficult, given that the storm the previous night had left everything so wet. She found a small standing dead pine tree nearby, half of it had fallen over in the storm. While the wood on the ground and on the outside of the tree remained wet, the wood on the inside of the part of the tree that was still standing was dry. She ripped pieces of it out and used her boot knife to make wood shavings for tinder. She produced a flint rock from her pack and used her pocket knife to strike against the rock and create sparks into the tinder.

Shortly after getting a small fire going and with the evening fast approaching, she made her way over to the dwarf who was still lying in the small clearing. She peeked underneath his shirt to see his badly dislocated shoulder. It was a grotesque shade of black and blue. She grabbed the dwarfs limp hanging arm by the wrist and placed her foot on his armpit. She pulled the dwarfs arm away from his body and pushed with her foot for leverage. She did this a few times, feeling his muscles stretch and then finally the joint pop back into place.

His body shook with spasms, she immediately sent waves of healing into his shoulder and bloodied head. After taxing her powers completely, his breathing seemed to come a bit easier. She unfastened the vines off of his shield. She tied them together to make a sling for his arm. She carefully applied the sling on the dwarf, leaving the arm she had tended to lying across his chest securely. She poured small amounts of water into his mouth and he coughed and then swallowed. She rinsed off his head with her water skin as best she could and then applied a bandage around his head.

There wasn't much more she could do for the dwarf. She removed her dirty boots. Her purplish ankle had swelled to nearly twice the size of her other one. She knew she had no healing power remaining so she crawled over to the stream bank, not wanting to put any pressure on her ankle. She sat upright and very gingerly placed her feet into the cool water, letting her ankle soak for some time. She winced as the stream flowed over her throbbing ankle. When her feet started to feel slightly numb she removed them. She took a small rolled bandage from her pack and started wrapping the middle of her foot, all the way up to her lower shin.

She made her way back over to the small dirt clearing and sat against one of the boulders on the opposite side of the small fire. She needed to feel the solidarity of the rock behind her, as her mind swirled. Her eyes began to well up with tears as she thought about the traumatic previous night. Never in her young life had she been exposed to such carnage like that. She tried to block out the thoughts, but she could still hear the screams in her mind. The agony in her mind gave her no rest, but eventually and perhaps mercifully her body betrayed her and she collapsed from exhaustion.

Until she woke... to the sound of wolves.


End file.
